


November 28

by days_of_storm



Series: The Words Not Spoken [9]
Category: My Engineer (TV)
Genre: Anniversary, Emotional Roller Coaster, Established Relationship, Fluff, Idiots in Love, M/M, PDA, handjob
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:14:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27761329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/days_of_storm/pseuds/days_of_storm
Summary: Today is the 1st anniversary of King and Ram's first kiss. So here's a story about where they are on November 28, 2020.
Relationships: King/Ram (My Engineer)
Series: The Words Not Spoken [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1863481
Comments: 6
Kudos: 79





	November 28

**Author's Note:**

> Today is the 1st anniversary of King and Ram's first kiss. So here's a story about where they are on November 28, 2020.

Ram was pacing nervously, not sure whether he should get on the bus already or wait until King would show up. He’d only gone to buy snacks, because while they had packed their bags and ticked off items on their list, of course they had forgotten to bring food. They only noticed on the way to the bus, so King hand handed him his bag and sprinted off. 

And while Ram knew that the bus would wait for him – Tee wouldn’t allow it to leave without his most important supporter – he couldn’t quite bring himself to trust that the driver might not just decide to go.

“Ai’Ning, why are you so nervous?” King walked past him, hugging him as he went along before letting go again and climbing on board. Ram rolled his eyes and followed him. 

King stuffed the bag with snacks into the overhead compartment and then let Ram sit in the window seat. Ram tapped his chest as he passed him and he heard someone coo. Probably Ting Ting. Oh god, this would be much harder than hanging out with King on campus while their friends were around. They would be around each other pretty much 24 hours for four full days – just like last year – but last year they hadn’t been together. Well, not … _together_ together. This year, their friends would tease them mercilessly, he was fairly certain. He just hoped that maybe they would focus on Bohn and Duen, who had made their relationship official during the trip last year. 

Ram sighed and settled down in his seat, not quite looking forward to being stuck on a bus for 10 hours. But at least he could lean against King if he wanted to sleep and he did not have to nervously tiptoe around him, trying not to give away how he really felt. 

When King sat down, he immediately put his hand on Ram’s thigh and Ram closed his eyes for a moment, pretending that they were at home, on the couch, watching a terrible series in companionable silence. 

“Why are you so tense?” King asked and Ram shrugged, looking around. 

“Just a lot of people.”

King squeezed his knee. “Wanna listen to music? Tune them out for a bit?”

Ram nodded and put in his earbuds, smiling when King pulled a powerbank out of his bag and tucked it into the net at the back of the seat in front of Ram. “Just in case,” King smiled back at him. 

“Thank you,” Ram exhaled loudly and then closed his eyes. When he felt King’s grip on his leg loosen a little, he placed his hand on hop of King’s.

King didn’t move his hand for a while, but when he did he turned it around and intertwined their fingers. Ram couldn’t help but smile again, turning his face towards the window, hoping that nobody would be paying attention. 

“Ai’Ram!” Boss, who sat in the seat in front of him, had turned around and was grinning at him and King. 

Ram looked at him but he did not take out the earbuds. 

Boss made a face but then he sighed happily. “Remember last year?”

Ram rolled his eyes. They had been on the road for less than twenty minutes and the teasing was already starting. 

Ram nodded, just a dip of his head while King leaned just a tad closer. 

Boss’s grin widened a little. “Do you think the trees survived?”

Ram took out one earbud. “Why are you asking me and not P’King?”

Boss looked back and forth between them and then he shook his head. “Just making small-talk.”

“What do you want, Boss?” King asked. 

“Nothing,” Boss chuckled. “Nothing at all.”

Ram caught King’s glare at him and Boss turned around again and dropped back into his seat.

When he looked at King, King shrugged and then moved even closer to him until their shoulders touched. Finally, he rested his head on Ram’s shoulder and closed his eyes. Ram couldn’t help but smile at that. He put his earbud back in and closed his eyes, leaning against King. 

He woke up to his phone pinging repeatedly and when he checked his messages he had been sent a dozen photos of King and him sleeping, from different perspectives. He scrolled down until he had seen them all, realised that all of their friends had participated in the plot, and pushed his phone back into his pocket. 

He slipped his arm through King’s and clasped his hand again, snuggling a little closer. If they were going to take photos of them, he’d make sure they’d be good ones. He wasn’t quite able to fall asleep again, but the music was loud enough for him to not hear the chatter around them and that was good enough for him. 

King only woke up when the bus stopped for the first break and Ram made sure that King didn’t check his phone until they were alone in a corner of the service station’s shop. Ram had to admit that he enjoyed King going a bit red when he saw the photos. 

“Are you okay with this?” King asked, sounding worried. 

“Well, no,” Ram admitted, but when King’s face fell, he shook his head. “But I don’t see how we can make them not do that. And I don’t want to stay away from you all day so they can’t take photos like this.”

“We could ask them.”

Ram huffed. “You know what they are like.”

“So, what are we going to do?”

Ram smiled, and then checked that nobody was around before he pressed a kiss to King’s cheek. “We’re going to turn this into a photo shoot.”

King stared at him, his mouth open, as if he wanted to protest, but then Bohn walked up to them, raising his chin. “We were about to leave without you.”

“No, you were not,” King said, but he still sounded distracted.

“Everything alright?” Bohn asked and Ram smiled and nodded. 

He knew it would only make things worse, but he could not pass up on a chance to irritate Bohn. After Ram had realised that Bohn was indeed very much in love with Duen but was just generally really bad at showing it, they had finally bonded over Ram telling Bohn a couple of things he could do to make sure Duen knew he was appreciated and respected – not that Bohn shouldn’t have been able to find out those things by himself – but it had pleased King that they spent time together, so he had kept showing up. 

Nevertheless, it still felt like scratching an itch when he managed to irritate him, and now was the perfect opportunity. Ram never smiled at Bohn. Well, he had smiled occasionally when Bohn had accidentally said or done something ridiculously sweet, but he never just small-talk-smiled at him. And knowing that King was still flustered would mean that Bohn probably thought that he had just missed them doing something that they shouldn’t have been doing. 

Ram schooled his expression when he walked back outside, sighed, put on his sunglasses and then waited for King and Bohn to come out. King looked at Ram as if he was afraid he might have lost his mind, but when Ram held out his hand to him, he walked up to him anyway and let Ram slip his arm around his hips and pull him close. 

“You’re serious,” he stated, sounding a little awed. 

Ram smirked and then pulled him towards the bus. He had surprised himself with his idea, but the more he thought about it, the better it seemed. If he consciously staged scenarios, it would mean he was in control of what happened and how they were seen and possibly photographed by their friends. It would also help him detach a little and make it easier to bear that there would be eyes on them all the time. 

When King looked at him, still wearing a slightly baffled expression, Ram texted him his reason. 

“Oh,” King immediately said. “That makes sense.”

_“Are you up for it?”_

King grinned. “Yes, I think I am.”

Ram grinned and leaned across to kiss him quickly. Too quickly for anyone to catch it. King grinned and shook his head. “Just, if it gets too much, you tell me, hmm?”

Ram nodded. 

He played on his phone for a couple of hours before they shared some of the snacks King had bought earlier. During the next break, they wandered off just a little bit and then leaned against a tree, shoulders pressed together, hands clasped just out of sight, both wearing sunglasses. 

“What if nobody takes a photo?” King asked after five minutes of standing there and looking pretty. 

“Ting Ting is on the trip with us.”

“So?”

“We might end up on her Instagram story or vlog or whatever she’s doing this time,” Ram grinned. “And even if they don’t. I’m enjoying this.”

King squeezed his hand. “So am I.”

When Ram’s phone pinged, he waited for a couple of minutes before pulling it out of his trouser pocket. He tried not to show any reaction to the short clip Ting Ting had recorded which showed Tang pretending to be shocked and pointing into their direction before she zoomed in on them and then on their hands. It wasn’t even possible to tell whether they were holding hands or not, but the message was clear. 

He pushed it back into his jeans and inhaled deeply. “Let’s go?” 

On the bus, he pretended that everything was fine. He did chat with the others, switching seats with King for a bit. When he noticed Boss peeking over the seat again, talking with King while holding his phone in his hand, Ram placed his hand on King’s thigh, just resting it there without squeezing, and not once looking at King. 

They had a proper lunch during the next break and Ram was amazed that during the bus trip last year they had slept through so much of it. They had been exhausted, yes, and King had been hurting, but it seemed incredible that they had spent so much time sleeping on the bus. Well, maybe it had been a way to avoid any further awkward conversations. After he had told King that he liked him, he knew he would never be able to come back from that and sleep had seemed like a good way to ignore the longing he had felt for him. 

He looked at King, who currently picked his food from a buffet while joking around with Bohn. God, he was so glad they had worked it out. He could not imagine studying at the same faculty with King, constantly running into him, maybe even being tutored by him and not being allowed to touch him. 

He sighed deeply. 

“Ram, are you alright?” Phu sat down next to him, looking a little worried. 

He nodded. 

“It’s just that … you … seem different today.”

Ram cocked his head. “Different?”

“Well,” Phu seemed a little at a loss as to how to say what he wanted to say.

When King sat down opposite Ram on the table and immediately reached out to squeeze his hand before ordering him to eat and Ram winked at King, Phu huffed. “That’s what I mean,” he said and Ram couldn’t help but smile. 

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” Ram shrugged and began shovelling rice into his mouth, ignoring his friend for the time being. 

“So, everything is alright?”

Ram nodded. 

“Did anything happen?” King asked, his spoon hovering in mid-air.

Phu shook his head, looking even more embarrassed now. Ram looked at King, hoping he’d understand, and when King smiled widely, he was relieved. When he looked at Phu, his expression turned into pure innocence. 

“No. I just wanted to make sure.”

“That’s very kind of you,” King nodded and patted Phu’s hand. It only seemed to confuse him further. 

“Right,” Phu began eating his own food, watching them carefully. Ram found that he couldn’t quite stop himself from looking at King, his heart jumping every time he looked back at him. Yes, it was definitely different this time around.

Back on the bus, Ram realised that the lines between touching King for possible photographs and doing it because he wanted to – no, needed to – had become slightly blurred. When King fell asleep again, he shifted in his seat so he could pull King down and let him rest his head on his chest. Trying to ignore that they weren’t alone, he closed his eyes, too, and eventually drifted off. 

When he opened his eyes again, he realised that the bus had stopped and that everyone was moving. King lifted his head, blinking at him tiredly, his lips stretching into a smile, before his eyes widened and he sat back up. “Sorry,” he apologised, and Ram knew they needed to be alone for the conversation that was bound to happen. 

He shook his head and squeezed his leg to show him that he wasn’t upset and King seemed to relax a little. “We’re here, I guess?”

Ram nodded and suppressed the urge to kiss him. As he watched King run his hand through his hair, straighten his shirt and get up to grab his bags, Ram realised that he might be in trouble and that he was entirely at fault. 

“Coming?” King asked and Ram nodded. 

“Can we put up the tent first?” he asked as they followed the now familiar path to the camping ground. 

King looked at him and then stumbled over a root and Ram caught him, not quite believing what had happened. 

“Umm, oops?” King said as he came to stand on his own feet again. Ram had to force himself to let go of his arms. 

“Was that on purpose?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at King. But he seemed oblivious. 

“I was just thinking that you would not want a repeat of me almost drowning by the waterfall.”

“So instead you almost fell, like you did last time?”

King laughed out loud and then walked backwards in front of Ram. “I just didn’t pay attention just now.”

Ram looked at King’s feet, ready to jump forward the moment his heels caught on anything, but King walked just fine. 

“And I didn’t hit my head once since that day,” King proclaimed proudly and Ram couldn’t help but laugh. 

“Except for that time you saw me do pull-ups at home and smashed your face into the door frame.”

“Not the same,” King argued. “That was your fault.”

“You still hit your head,” Ram argued and reached out to take King’s wrist. Instead, King took his hand and turned around again so that they could walk together. Ram wondered if it was strange that his heart was beating so fast in reaction. 

“So, that wasn’t the reason why you wanted to put up the tent first, was it?” King asked when they reached the distribution desk. Ram chose to ignore him and thereby to confirm King’s suspicion. 

“Right,” he said as he signed for them and received the tent while Ram took the sleeping bags, mats and flashlights. 

“Are you coming to the waterfall?” Boss asked, putting his arm around King’s shoulders and clasping his arm. Ram wasn’t actually jealous, but he knew Boss was touching King like that in order to tease him. Well, since they were already acting, why not humour him. He stepped closer to King and pulled Boss’s hand away from his arm, pushing him just far enough away so he had to withdraw his arm from his shoulders, too. 

As Ram has expected, Boss immediately apologised for overstepping an apparent boundary and Ram had to try very hard not to laugh at him. He knew by now that Boss could be serious, but most of the time, he thrived on chaos and mischief. 

“We’ll just put up the tent and then we’ll go,” King said. 

They found a spot a little removed from the other marked spaces and while Ram knew it would take them longer to get to the showers and the HQ from there, he was glad to know their tent wouldn’t be surrounded by the others. He needed a corner into which to withdraw and it seemed to be the best available spot. 

King squeezed his shoulder in acknowledgement when Ram dropped the sleeping bags on the ground. “Good spot.”

They struggled a little, trying to get the elements of the tent poles to slot together, and when Ram remarked drily that King should get out the lube, King lost it and sank to the ground, laughing so hard he was wiping tears from his face. 

When Duen came over to ask what had happened, King just laughed harder and Ram knew he couldn’t repeat what he had said without embarrassing Duen, so he just shrugged. Bohn joined Duen, shaking his head at King who was still trying to catch his breath, wiping his face with his t-shirt. 

Meanwhile, Ram continued to shove pole elements together, trying not to grin each time they got stuck. When King turned around and saw him struggle, he started laughing again and Bohn sat down on the ground next to King, looking both amused and a little worried.

“Did you hit your head again?” he asked and Ram finally cracked. Seeing Ram laugh set King off again, who lay down on the ground, holding his tummy, shaking with laughter. 

“I guess you aren’t coming to the waterfall with us, then?” Bohn finally asked, poking King’s knee. 

“We just need a couple of minutes to get this tent up,” Ram said, and King squealed with laughter. Ram shook his head, a little helplessly, and went back to fixing the poles. 

“Okay,” Duen pulled Bohn up. “We’re gonna go. You just … join us when you are done.”

Ram nodded and then used the finished pole to poke King. 

“Ouch!” he complained, but at least he sat up. 

“It wasn’t even that funny,” Ram complained and went to help him up. When King finally stood on his own two feet, he stood much too close to Ram, and for a moment Ram was incredibly tempted to lean in and kiss him, but he knew that it was one thing to have their friends take photos of them holding hands and hugging and another thing entirely to be caught kissing in public, even if they were in the middle of nowhere on a campsite. 

“Sorry,” King stepped away, his eyes glued to Ram’s lips. 

“You are not helping,” Ram said and King had to laugh again, because he clearly heard exactly what Ram meant for him to hear. 

They did manage to pop up the tent eventually and King crawled inside to place the mats and put their bags away while Ram fixed the outer layer of the tent. When he was done, he pressed his hand against the tent where he stood, and a second later, King’s hand pressed back. He couldn’t say why he loved it so much that King had immediately done what he had hoped he would, but it made his heart sing. 

“Are you set up?” he asked, not quite daring to just climb into the tent. 

“I’ll … need your help for a moment. Can you come inside?”

Ram inhaled deeply. He had been afraid that King would ask him to join him, afraid and very, very hopeful that he would. 

He climbed inside and zipped the opening shut, just in case. When he turned around, King immediately pulled him down onto the mats. He had enough sense not to call out, but he grunted when he hit the ground. King pushed him onto his back and climbed on top of him, pinning his wrists to the mat next to Ram’s head. For a breathless moment, they stared at each other, but then King leaned down and kissed him hungrily. 

Ram couldn’t hold back a moan when King shifted his weight a little, and he knew they were playing a dangerous game, but he did not want King to stop. He kissed him back as well as he could, being held down like this, but King was beyond teasing how and each time Ram pushed up to deepen the kiss, King responded in kind. 

When King let go of his wrists to push at his t-shirt, Ram found that he did not really want to stop him. He wasn’t entirely sure why King was so desperate all of the sudden, but he enjoyed it quite a bit, against his better judgement. 

When King pulled the shirt over his head and immediately leaned back down to kiss his chest and then move lower, Ram wondered how long they would be able to stay quiet. When King started using his tongue, he knew that, at least on his side, he wouldn’t for much longer. He pressed his bunched-up t-shirt against his lips, trying to stifle any sounds that escaped him, and after he had arched up into King’s touch several times, trying desperately to be quiet, he started to suspect that King was doing it on purpose. 

“Wait!” he gasped before pressing the t-shirt back down again.

To his surprise, King stopped and looked at him, breathing heavily. “What?”

Ram shook his head and then slowly moved the t-shirt out of the way. “They might still be outside.”

“But now everyone’s busy. Tonight, it’s going to be really quiet.”

Ram shivered, realising that King was serious about this. He had figured that they couldn’t have sex at night, so he was using the time that everyone was busy putting up tents and exploring the nearby waterfall to scratch that particular itch. 

“Why are you so turned on?” Ram asked, staring at King whose cheeks were flushed and whose lips were already a little swollen from their kiss. He laughed at Ram’s question. 

“Are you joking?” he realised he had been quite loud, so he lowered his voice and leaned forward, coming into kissing distance again. “You touched me all the time today. In full sight of everybody. How could I not?”

Ram swallowed. “I’m sorry?”

King laughed again, but this time Ram could tell that he was already planning his next move. “Oh no, you don’t get to apologise for that.” 

Ram almost squealed when King returned to kissing his chest while his hands fumbled with his belt. Once he had unbuckled it, not without cursing under his breath, he opened Ram’s jeans and unceremoniously pulled them down to his knees. Ram, not sure why he was helping, had lifted his hips to make it easier for him. 

King smirked when he grew hard under his eyes and he made a gleeful sound when Ram pressed both of his hands over his mouth to stifle his moans when he took him into his hand. He was almost ready to simply surrender himself to King, but he knew that he needed to distract himself, otherwise he would start overthinking everything and possibly upset them both by needing to stop in the middle of it, and he really, really did not want King to stop.

So, he gave himself a few minutes in which he just enjoyed King’s hand on him before he reached out for his flies. King cocked his head and a slow smile spread across his face and for a moment, Ram was breathless with how beautiful King looked. Then King let go of him and opened his own trousers, pushing them down, grunting when he gave himself a couple of strokes. 

“P’King!” Ram warned and King pressed his lips together before he settled down between Ram’s legs. 

“Take them off,” Ram whispered when he realised that his legs were still trapped in his jeans while he really wanted to wrap his legs around King’s hips, holding him down. 

King sighed in frustration but he did move back and pulled Ram’s legs free, leaving him entirely naked except for his socks and necklace while King was still almost entirely dressed. This time, Ram did not wait for King to move but he took hold of his shirt and pulled him down, immediately wrapping his arms and legs around him, silencing his surprised protest with kisses. 

It seemed to take King some time to come to terms with the fact that Ram had taken control of the situation, but when he finally did, he pushed himself up a little and slipped his hand between their bodies, taking hold of them both, and then started to move his hips. Ram pulled him back down into a kiss, knowing he needed it to stay quiet. If he could concentrate on kissing King, he would be fine. 

What he had not expected was for King to lose it like he did. He wasn’t even sure what had triggered it, but suddenly King moved faster and faster before he began to moan loudly, pressing his face into the crook of Ram’s neck, jerking hard several times, his breath harsh against Ram’s skin. A moment later, all strength seemed to leave him. 

It happened so fast that Ram didn’t really have time to process it, especially since he had been getting close himself. But now King seemed unable or unwilling to move and Ram wasn’t sure if he would appreciate it if he tried to get him to move again right then. 

Instead, he pushed his hands into King’s hair and gently stroked it, pressing kisses to his forehead and whispering sweet nothings to him until he finally sighed deeply and stirred. 

“I’m sorry,” King apologised, and when he looked up, Ram could see he had blushed quite vividly. “Do you think they are going to throw us out of camp for public indecency?”

Ram laughed and finally relaxed his legs around King’s hips. 

“I don’t know, but if you are going to leave me hanging now you will spend the night outside with the mosquitos,” he warned. 

King chuckled and shifted a little until he lay next to Ram. He stared at his tummy which was glistening with his own come and swallowed audibly. “Fuck,” he whispered and drew his index finger through the mess before he wrapped his hand around Ram and began to move. 

Ram tried very hard to control his breathing, but he could barely stand the way King looked at him, smiling each time Ram had to bite back a sound. 

“P’King, I’m … I’m going to …” he whispered, his hand settling against King’s. “I’m …”

When he came, King kissed him, swallowing the sounds that escaped him despite his best efforts. 

It took him a while to regain his breath, and he was torn between enjoying the extraordinary situation and panicking about the possibility that they had been heard by the others. Finally, he pushed himself up on his elbows. King grinned at his sticky hand, so Ram fished for his bag and finally pulled out some napkins he had shoved into it after lunch. He hadn’t considered that they might serve this specific purpose when he had taken them, but now he was glad that he had. 

He wiped himself clean and handed King another napkin to clean his hand. 

“We can go and wash if you want to,” King suggested, and Ram realised he sounded a little anxious. 

“I’m sure they are waiting for us by the waterfall.”

King nodded. “Yeah, let’s go there.”

Ram laughed and pointed at himself. “Maybe I should put on some pants, at least.”

King huffed and pulled up his jeans, licking his lips and pushing his hair back several times within a single minute and Ram knew they couldn’t leave before he knew why King was nervous. 

“Hey,” he asked as he pulled on his shirt again. “What’s on your mind?”

“It’s just that …” For a second, he looked like he was about to cry and Ram knelt in front of him, taking his face between his hands, searching for an answer in his eyes. When King avoided his eyes, he shook his head and kissed him very gently. 

“What’s wrong?”

Even as he asked, he could see tears welling up in King’s eyes and he let go of his face and took his hands in his instead. “Tell me!” he demanded, completely out of his depth.

“It’s just … I hurt you that first night,” King said, sounding heartbroken. “I hurt you and I knew I was doing it but I couldn’t stop myself from saying the words and …”

Ram shook his head again. “What are you talking about?”

“Last year. The night we arrived and I hit my head again and you found me and dragged me back here. And … and I told you to stop spending time taking care of me and … ” tears slipped down his cheeks and fell from his chin onto their hands. “And I knew you were hurt. I just didn’t know why.”

Ram couldn’t help but smile. “Have you considered that if you hadn’t done that, you might not have cracked two nights later?”

King shook his head. “You hugged me and it was everything I wanted and I pushed you away.”

“It’s in the past.”

“I know. It just … struck me, after I …” He handed Ram his jeans. 

Ram let go of him and got dressed properly. “Why?”

“Hmm?”

“Why did you suddenly come?”

King wiped his face and pouted a little. “It just … it smells exactly the same.”

“Hmm?”

“The tent. The air. You.”

“Same as what?”

“Same as it did during our first kiss.”

Ram inhaled deeply, but he had no memory of how things had smelled that night. All he remembered was how sad he had been when King had pushed him away again and again and how relieved when he finally didn’t anymore.

“P’King?”

“Hmm?” King looked up at him and when Ram reached out for him, he took his hand and let himself be pulled up. 

“I love you,” Ram said quietly. “Please don’t be sad about last year.”

King nodded and then hugged him tightly. “I love you. And thank you.”

“For what?”

“For making me feel better about this.”

Ram huffed and squeezed his arse. “If we come back next year and you start crying again because you remember crying this year …”

“Hmm? What?”

Ram laughed. “I don’t know yet. But I can’t have you be sad. Last year was enough for a lifetime.”

King pushed his face against his neck and sighed. “God, that group photo by the lake.”

“Stop it!”

“The way you looked at me. I was such an idiot.”

“P’King!”

“I’m sorry.”

“Let’s go?”

King pulled back and kissed Ram gently. “Yes. I promise not to play in the water. At least not without your immediate supervision.”

Ram laughed and unzipped the tent. He was infinitely relieved to see that no one was around. 

King slipped his hand into Ram’s after a few yards, smiling when Ram looked at him in surprise. “I know you said you wanted to pose, but … I think you also just want to touch me in public,” King explained and kissed his shoulder. 

Ram pretended not to have heard him, but he couldn’t quite keep from smiling.

“Ha, I knew it!” 

Ram shrugged and King laughed happily. 

They walked slowly, not quite wanting to be surrounded by people again, but eventually they arrived at the waterfall, finding that almost everyone was in the water, splashing around, posing for photos or just cooling off after the long day on the stuffy bus. 

King sat down in the exact spot where they had sat the year before. However, he had taken his phone this time and as soon as Ram sat down next to him, he began taking selfies. 

Ram tried not to lean in too closely, but when King wrapped his arm around his shoulders and pulled him close, he resigned himself to his fate. In the end, it would just mean multiple photos from several perspectives. 

“Oi, you two! You finally made it!” Ting Ting chuckled and held out her phone. “And here we have a miracle,” she sighed happily. “We all knew they were meant for each other, but it took them ages to figure it out for themselves, and now they are here, exactly a year after their first kiss, on November 28 in the year 2020, revisiting all of those romantic places which made them finally realise how in love they were.” She sighed happily and pressed a button on her phone. 

“Aww, this will get so many views,” she said happily and skipped off before Ram or King could say anything. 

“Wait, did she just …” King unlocked his phone again and looked at his calendar. “Yeah, it’s the 28th. How did she know the date?”

Ram shrugged, but then he took the phone from King and opened facebook. When he found what he was looking for, he grinned and held it out to King. “Bohn and Duen made it official on facebook on the day we left again. The 29th. Ting Ting is right.”

“But I didn’t … fuck, it’s our anniversary and I didn’t even …”

Ram chuckled. “Neither did I.”

“Honestly, why didn’t we …” he couldn’t finish his sentence, because Ram had decided to throw all caution in the wind. He pulled King close and kissed him passionately, tongue and all, in full sight of everyone. When wolf whistles sounded and people began cheering, he pulled back, feeling his face burn. 

“I guess they all know anyway,” he shrugged and was surprised when King pulled him back for another kiss. 

“Happy anniversary,” he said when he moved away again. 

Ram picked a colourful leaf from the edge of the waterfall where it had gotten trapped twirling round and round in a small vortex and handed it to King. King’s expression melted his heart a little and he leaned in close to hide his face from everyone else. 

“Happy anniversary.”

That night during dinner, Ram wanted to check the selfies King had sent him. Instead he found a link to a video Ting Ting had posted on her Instagram. King leaned in close to watch it with him. It was a collection of all of their friends’ photos with added snark in speech bubbles, neon arrows pointing out when they were holding hands or looking at each other, finishing with the clip she had recorded at the waterfall. Ram put down his phone, shaking his head at Ting Ting, who winked at them from her table. He wanted to be upset that their intimacies were now served on a silver platter to her multitude of followers, but in the end, he found that he did not mind. He was surprised by that, because he distinctly remembered how terrified he had been when King had told him about overhearing the teenagers on the bus suggesting that they were a couple. 

“You okay?” King asked, looking at him closely, and Ram nodded. 

“Are you?” he asked King, squeezing his hand.

"Never better," King smiled and kissed him.


End file.
